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Jury trials shouldn’t be so disruptive. I should be accustomed to them. I have tried many of my own and assisted with so many more, and yet, I never feel entirely prepared. This particular case was prepared last month because I thought we would present it then, but as you know, it was passed, and then my ordinary hectic life intervened, and I have since forgotten everything I ever knew about the facts, but here goes nothing.

What the trial means to my home life:

1. Someone else will have to pick up Anna at 1:30 and Wade at 3:15.

2. Someone else will have to take them to their dentist appointments as soon as I nail down what day those are.

3. Miss Pat will have to stay until at least 6 p.m. every night and feed them supper and prepare the evening routine on Tuesday.

4. I will have to get down that box of tangled hosiery from the top shelf in my closet and pray that I can find an unruined pair of black stockings. If not, I will hit Walgreen’s on my way to work for some second-rate, but hopefully unnoticeably-so black L’eggs. I don’t think they come in an egg anymore, sadly.

5. If you call me in the next 3 days, I won’t get back to you.

6. On Thursday night, I will collapse in exhaustion, but this case will be behind me, and on Friday morning, I can get up and tackle the 20 new cases that await my review before presentation to the grand jury.

It is just like a ride at DisneyWorld. Once you buckle into that car, it is up and down and fast and slow, and upside down and around the curves, but you aren’t driving. The facts, the witnesses, and the evidence take on a life of their own, and it’s always unpredictable.

So now I am feeding the children and counting the hours until they go to bed (praying to the sandman here). Because that is when I will unpack my entire accordion file and lay out all the exhibits on the dining room table, and try to mold the events of one exciting evening into a comprehensible form to present to the citizens of Tom Green County over the next three days.

Chronological by event? By first-responder-on-scene? By order of convenience to out-of-town witnesses? And then how to make it look pretty and professional and finally, believeable, because these jurors are smart. They watch CSI and Law&Order and they know our job. And those female lawyers (lawyeresses?) are tall and blonde and leggy and sneaky and smart. I can only offer well-versed in my facts and determined. I hope that’s enough.